Sand in my Shoes
by absentia-varia
Summary: Two weeks away is all it takes to change your life. TRORY future fic


SAND IN MY SHOES  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Gilmore Girls; if I did CMM would be back on the show! The song used is Dido's 'Sand in my Shoes' which is on her 'Life for Rent' CD.  
  
Summary: Two weeks away is all it takes to change your life. TRORY  
  
// = song lyrics  
  
*~*  
  
// Two weeks away feels like the whole world should have changed But I'm home now and things still look the same I think I'll leave it till tomorrow to unpack, try to forget for one more night That I'm back in my flat On the road where the cars never stop going through the night To a life where I can't watch the sun set, I don't have time, I don't have time //  
  
Two weeks ago Rory had left her life in New York to travel across the country to California. Her editor had forced her to take a holiday, he had told her that she was twenty three and should WANT to take a break. So she had gone and it was a tri that had changed her life.  
  
The last person she expected to run into in California was the guy from her past with his trademark good looks, his icy blue eyes and tousled blonde hair. He had matured, that much was obvious but he still had the air about him that told her that he could still get any girl he wanted.  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
Rory had just arrived at the hotel she was staying in, she really didn't want to be there, but she might as well enjoy herself knowing that Mark, her editor would be mad if she didn't stay there for a while. She got the key card to her room from the front counter and was on her way to her room when she bumped into someone, dropping her bags. She bent down to pick them up and said, "I'm sorry", apologising.  
  
"That's alright, it's probably my fault. I wasn't looking where I was goings" the guy said. Rory froze halfway through reaching for her handbag, that voice, it sounded so familiar. She stood up and looked at the guy she bumped into. He looked at her in shock, "Mary?" he asked and suddenly Rory knew realised why he sounded so familiar.  
  
"Tristan?" Rory asked, "What are you doing here?" she asked and Tristan laughed slightly.  
  
"I could ask you the same thing, you know" he said as he picked u p the rest of her bags and led her over to the couches in the lobby. "I'm meeting come clients soon. I work down the block and this is a regular meeting place, although I've never seen you here before." Tristan said and Rory smiled.  
  
"I'm here on holiday; I'm now a native New Yorker. I write for the New York Times" Rory said. Tristan winced when she mentioned New York and Rory raised her eyebrow in question.  
  
"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't think that I could live on the east coast again, for one there's nothing for me there and second I think I'd miss the beach too much." Tristan said and Rory smiled, "What?" he asked.  
  
"I haven't been to the beach in a long time. Actually I haven't taken a holiday in a long time" Rory confessed.  
  
"Well then I will just have to take you to the beach then" Tristan said, "What do you say Mary?" he asked, Rory smiled, she hadn't been called Mary in a long time and strangely, unlike in high school she didn't take offence to it anymore.  
  
"Sure, why not? But I have to get settled in and don't you have a meeting?" Rory asked. Tristan glanced at his watch,  
  
"Damn, that's night, okay well what's say that I go do this meeting and you can settle in and we'll meet down here at 12" Tristan said and waited for Rory to agree and then he stood up. "Great, it's a date" he said and then kissed her on the cheek and walked off. Rory sat there for a while before she stood up and walked over to the elevators. She pushed the button to go up and waited. The concierge ran over to her and said,  
  
"Ms Gilmore?" he asked, Rory nodded and was confused when the man smiled and motioned for her to get in the elevator with him when it arrived. He put a key into the lift and pressed the top button.  
  
"Um, what's going on?" she asked a little more than confused when he asked her for her current key card.  
  
"A mister DuGrey has upgraded your room to the penthouse suite Ms Gilmore" he explained and Rory smiled, but shook her head at the same time as she couldn't believe that he'd done that for her.  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
// I've still got sand in my shoes and I can't shake the thought of you I should get on, forget you, but why would I want to I know we said goodbye, anything else would have been confused But I want to see you again //  
  
The first week of Rory's holiday had been fantastic; she and Tristan had spent the majority of time at the beach catching up. He took her to the markets and showed her all of his favourite places to go in LA and up the coast. Rory had been amazed at the change in Tristan, he was no longer the cocky little school boy she remembered from Chilton, he was confident and successful, which she always thought he'd be. But he had lost his high society ego. She supposed it had been his years in military school.  
  
It had been in the middle of her stay in LA that things changed. Tristan had taken her to this secluded beach which was his favourite spot to go. That night had changed her time in LA from fantastic to beyond words.  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
Tristan turned to Rory, this past week together had fuelled is memory of feeling that he felt for her when he was younger. It surprised him to realise that although they had been pushed down in his psyche, they were still there, "Rory?" he asked, and she turned to him, her blue eyes meeting his.  
  
"Yes" she asked her heart beating fast. Rory had come to realise that over the past week she had developed major feelings for Tristan. Tristan didn't answer Rory when she asked him what it was, instead he leant down and pressed his lips gently to hers. She gasped in surprise and Tristan took this opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth and explore. Rory soon overcame her shock and kissed Tristan back. Her hands found their way to his neck and she began playing with his messy hair. Tristan's arms wrapped around Rory's waist and he pulled her closer to him.  
  
When they pulled apart Rory's mind flew to that night at Madeline's party and the kiss that she and Tristan shared on the piano bench. She remembered how she had ran away crying, but that wasn't what she was going to do now. She let herself fall back into Tristan's arms and they sat on the beach and watched the sun set.  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
Rory sighed as she looked around her apartment; it was a total mess as she hadn't had much notice about the fact that Mark had booked a holiday for her. She had to get back to work the next day and had to get her head straight and concentrate on what needed to get done.  
  
Walking into her bathroom Rory turned on the taps to the bath and adjusted the temperature. She pulled her hair out of the pony tail she had it in and looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying.  
  
Turning off the taps Rory stepped into the bath and lay down, she closed her eyes and remembered the day when she and Tristan had taken all day to watch the sun set.  
  
// Tomorrow's back to work and down to sanity Should run a bath and then clear up the mess I made before I left here. Try to remind myself that I was happy here before I knew that I could get On a plane and fly away From the road where the cars never stop going through the night To a life where I can watch the sun set and take my time, take all our time //  
  
Rory had thought abut that night all the way home on the plane. From then on she and Tristan had spent even more time with each other. He took her to a party thrown by his friends and introduced her to them all. Rory had never felt happier in her life, especially after that night, but now it was all over.  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
"This isn't going to work out you know" Rory said to Tristan on her last night in LA. They were lying in bed together in each others arms. Tristan felt like his heart was breaking.  
  
"I know" he said softly. His life was here in California, hers was in New York. They would have never worked out. Rory closed her eyes and snuggled in closer to Tristan and slowly drifted off to sleep. When Tristan thought that Rory was asleep he whispered softly, "I think I'm in love with you Mary. Too bad we have to say goodbye" he said and fell asleep soon after.  
  
Rory's mind was working overtime and her heart felt like it was in her throat. When she knew that Tristan was asleep she turned over and opened her eyes. "I think I could fall in love with you" she confessed, more to herself than to Tristan who was asleep.  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
// I've still got sand in my shoes and I cant shake the thought of you I should get on, forget you, but why would I want to I know we said goodbye, anything else would have been confused But I want to see you again //  
  
Rory knew she had to let Tristan go if she wanted to continue her career. But she'd never be the same again. Rory got out of her bath and drained the tub; she changed into her pyjamas and started to clean the apartment. She came across her laptop and just stared at it. She opened it and turned it on, then began to work on her current assignment for an hour before letting it go and going to bed.  
  
The next day when Rory woke up she knew that she was home in New York; she could hear the cars on the street below her building. She got up and went on with life because she knew that it was what Tristan had to do as well. He would be a holiday fling to anyone else, but inside her heart he would always be more.  
  
// Two weeks away, all it takes, to turn me around I've fallen I walked away, and never said, that I wanted to see you again //  
  
It had been one week since Rory had been back at work at everyone had noticed a difference. She didn't have that same passion for her work anymore and her editor Mark often caught her staring out of the window for an hour at a time. He wondered what had happened to change this workaholic girl into not being motivated at all. It had to be something to do with the holiday, but whenever someone asked her about it she made up an excuse to get away or she changed the subject.  
  
Rory knew that tings were different and she knew that everyone else around her knew as well. It had been a week and she hadn't heard from Tristan once. She was beginning to suspect that she hadn't meant anything to him, that she was just another girl like the ones he saw at Chilton. She heard the faint ding of the elevator across the office as someone got off on their floor but payed no attention to it.  
  
"Miss Gilmore?" the head secretary said as she walked up to Rory, "There's a handsome young gentleman here to see you, I think. He was asking for a Mary Gilmore?" Tracey informed the young writer. Rory's head shot up.  
  
"Did you say Mary?" Rory asked, her heart beating fast now,  
  
"Yes dear, I thought I might ask you if you know what he was talking about"  
  
"Could you please send him in here?" Rory said, Tracey looked confused but went to do what Rory asked. The whole office watched as a very handsome man walked across the news floor to Rory's office, she met him halfway. "What. what are you doing here?" Rory asked confused  
  
"I realised that I wanted you in my life" Tristan said softly, "So I transferred to the New York offices" he told Rory, "So what do you say Mary? Want to give this relationship a try?" he asked. Rory just pulled his head down to hers and she kissed him, Tristan was socked but wrapped him arms around her. The whole floor applauded the couple and Rory blushed.  
  
"You know what?" Rory said to Tristan, "I think that I could fall in love with you" she told him and Tristan's face lit up,  
  
"I know, I think I'm in love with you" he said revealing that he had heard her the last night and it had made him want to embark on a relationship with her even more. Rory smiled and led him into her office. They closed the door and the blinds and Rory smiled at him once more before kissing him again. For the first time in a long while both Rory and Tristan felt complete.  
  
// I've still got sand in my shoes and I can't shake the thought of you I should get on, forget you, but why would I want to I know we said goodbye, anything else would have been confused But I want to see you again //  
  
THE END  
  
This is just a one-part story, Depending on the reviews I get I might continue it or start a new trory story, this is my first one, So what do you think? 


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